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Friday, December 29, 2017

ERBIL, Iraqi Kurdistan — “A local minimarket like mine
should have worked! If things are going this badly here, then how bad is
it elsewhere?” said Badr Mahmoud, who just reopened his shop in
Kurdistan's capital city of Erbil. It's smaller this time because of the
lack of income, with fewer products and less stock than before. “I must
figure out how to survive because the neighborhood and even the kids in
the street need me.”

Wednesday, December 6, 2017

Ignoring all warnings, the Kurds of Iraq in September held a referendum
on independence and consequently lost most of the territory they
controlled outside their autonomous region when the Iraqi army was sent in to
punish them. A development that has increased the divide between their two main
power bases--as well as the calls for unity.

After the Iraqi army and Shiite militias mid-October took
control of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk back from the Kurds, the Kurdish president,
Massoud Barzani, was not seen in public for many days. The referendum over
independence from Iraq for the Kurdish region, held on September 25, had
backfired badly, but Barzani offered no comfort and remained silent.

This added to the fury of many Kurds, and to the grief of as
many others, because the fall-out from the referendum had destroyed even the
last shreds of unity the president had hoped it would create. As Iraqi troops
and Shiite volunteers rolled in to take back control of most of the areas that Baghdad
and the Kurds have been disputing since 2003, Kurdish politicians and civilians
started blaming both each other and the outside world.

The blame game is being played along geographical lines: in
the western half of the Kurdistan Region under the control of Barzani’s
Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the blame is mostly placed on the competition:
the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) based in the eastern part of the Region,
near the Iranian border. The PUK’s leaders blame the KDP, as they tried to
convince Barzani to give in to pressure from most of the world--and most
importantly Baghdad, the neighbors Iran and Turkey, and the Americans--to
postpone the referendum. And when the Iraqi army, in retaliation for the vote, stood
poised to take over the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, the PUK ordered their peshmerga troops to retreat—in order to prevent
bloodshed and the destruction of the city, they claim.

The Barzani front are calling this treason. Of the activists
present at a small peace demonstration outside the United Nations compound in the
Kurdistan capital, Erbil, most agree with that notion. Like Chiman Khaled, whose
father was a peshmerga fighter killed
by the former Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein. She blames part of the PUK for
the loss of Kirkuk: “A wing of the party accepted help from outside, which led
to betrayal,” she says, choosing her words carefully.

She is so precise in putting the blame on just part of the
party, because one PUK leader, Kosrat Rasul, took the KDP side, promising to
defend Kirkuk. But when the other PUK battalions pulled back, he too was eventually
forced to quit. The retreat of the peshmerga
led to thousands of Kurds fleeing the city, fearing abuse by the Iranian-led Hashed
al-Shabi militias, which have earned quite a reputation for brutality in the
fight against the Islamic group ISIS. Weeks later, many have still not returned
home, while many more Kurds have fled other towns and villages that have come
under fire.

The part of the already badly-divided PUK that didn’t fight
was led by the sons and nephews of the recently-deceased PUK leader, Jalal
Talabani. His eldest son, Bafel, took the lead there, after opposing the
referendum, even though he only holds a minor position in the party. The day
before it was due to be held, he called on the KDP to postpone it; Barzani replied
that it was too late for that. In PUK-majority towns, many stayed home, and the
turnout was barely fifty percent.

Jalal Talabani’s funeral, which took place just days after
the referendum, would normally have been an opportunity to smooth over conflicts.
However, no solutions were forthcoming. Soon after, when it became clear what
measures Baghdad was preparing in response to a referendum it deemed illegal, Jalal’s
son Bafel called for a meeting with other Kurdish parties in the lakeside town
of Dukan--a symbolic venue, as his father’s guest house there had welcomed many
fugitives from the wrath of previous Iraqi leaders. He presented a plan to pressure
the Iraqi Prime Minister, Haidar al-Abadi, into much-needed talks; the plan
included a freeze on the referendum outcome and the peaceful handing over of
Kirkuk, which was to be placed under joint Kurdish-Iraqi control.

Barzani is said to have left the meeting in a rage—perhaps
because it was clearly arranged following stiff pressure from neighboring Iran,
which has traditionally been a major influence on the PUK and other Kurdish parties.
Iran’s Republican Guards’ Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani had traveled back
and forth between the different Kurdish cities and Baghdad, first to warn
against holding the referendum, and later to threaten death and destruction if
the outcome was not annulled and Kirkuk was not handed over.

“Rather than face thousands
of dead and fighting in Kirkuk, we decided to make a tactical retreat,” Bafal
Talabani told France24 when confronted with the accusations of treason. He
called for an investigation into what had happened, as fighting had still led
to the death of dozens of peshmerga fighters. He also indicated that Abadi had
been willing to reach agreements when the Kurdish leaders met in Dukan “to stop
the trouble in Kirkuk,” but that the leaders—he didn’t blame Barzani by name--had
not been able to decide fast enough.

Both Iran and Region’s other neighbor, Turkey, are worried
about the impact the referendum--and a subsequent process leading to an
independent Kurdish state in Iraq—could have for their own Kurdish minorities. They
therefore sided with Baghdad to punish the Iraqi Kurds as a clear message to
their own citizens: do not even consider anything like this!

Tehran closed its border to maximize pressure on the PUK, as
oil exports to Iran and petrol imports from that country account for much of
the income of both the party and the Talabani family. In this respect, too,
there is a clear split between the PUK/Talabani family on the one hand and the the
Barzanis and the KDP-dominated government, which has been working closely with
Turkey over the past decade, with major Turkish investment feeding into an
economic boom and the transportation of Kurdish oil through Turkey, and Turkish
loans, helping out during the recent recession.

But given the Kurdish leaders’ failure to show unity, and Barzani’s
refusal to agree to Abadi’s demand to annul the vote, the Iraqi military take-over
did not stop at Kirkuk. The army has since taken back most of the disputed
areas, while fighting has broken out between the Kurdish peshmerga and Iraqi
and Hashed troops at some strategic locations. This was probably partly because
the KDP had been ready for a fight, as an advisor to the Kurdish Prime Minister,
who wants to remain anonymous, admitted just after the referendum was held.

The adviser indicated that the vote had not been postponed, partly
because elements within the KDP, mostly led by Barzani’s son Masrour, who heads
the security forces, had decided that only now would they receive enough
international support to counter any measures taken by Baghdad and the Region’s
neighbors militarily. They argued that the Americans and Europeans would stop
supporting them just as soon as the Kurds were no longer needed in the battle
against ISIS--“And then Baghdad will use chemical weapons against us again,
just as Saddam’s Baath party did before them,” the advisor said, promising
mistakenly that the Peshmerga would fight for Kirkuk and win, because they were
considered the stronger force.

This is another clear break with the PUK, which predicted such
a battle would be lost: the Kurds had mainly been successful in the fight
against ISIS, PUK analysts argued, because of the daily air support they
received from the coalition. Meaning they stood no chance against the Iraqis
and their mostly American-supplied weapons. These analysts included Bafel
Talabani, who had set up the PUK special forces now led by his cousin, Lahur.

But in the KDP, the view was that the battle would come
sooner or later anyway, as Baghdad has been unwilling to reach agreements over the
disputed areas since the constitution was accepted in 2005, and according to which,
the process for deciding who took control there, which included a census and a referendum,
should have been completed by late 2007. Since that never happened, Baghdad would
someday send the army in to take back the territories the Kurds had been able
to take over. When they did, any excuse would do.

This view has been echoed on social media by KDP supporters,
as well as during demonstrations held recently in Erbil. “What happened has
nothing to do with the referendum. Abadi and the militias were already planning
this,” says Mohammed Jamal, holding a number of small Kurdish flags and expressing
“sadness and grief” over the loss of territory. University professor Fatima
Sinda points out that the Iraqi constitution, the legal justification claimed
by Baghdad for its actions, has been abused by all parties. “The Iraqi
government has been undermining it for years, ignoring it in its actions
against minorities and now attacking us with American weapons.”

At the Erbil protests, many blamed the Americans for not
helping the Kurds, and for allowing the Iraqi army and Shiite militias
controlled by Iran to take over the disputed territories. Many simply had not
believed the Americans when they warned the Kurds that, if the referendum went
ahead, they would be unable to shield them from the consequences. By carrying
Israeli flags and portraits of the Israeli leader, Benjamin Netanjahu, next to
those of the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, some revealed where they had now
placed their trust.

The aforementioned advisor declared to be disappointed in
the Europeans, who had talked about human rights and democracy but were now
taking Baghdad’s side. This same attitude showed in the press releases Masrour
Barzani’s Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC) put out about the clashes
with the Iraqi army—or, in his view, primarily with the Iranian-led Shiite
militias whose leaders he mentioned by name. “The US-led Global Coalition and
US Government in particular has signaled tacit approval by dangerously--and
incorrectly--referencing the need to implement the law. That position sanctions
forces reporting to Hadi Ameri and Abu Mahdi Mohandes to launch unprovoked
attacks against the people of the Kurdistan Region. It also gives Iran an
opening to expand its influence and destabilize the Kurdistan Region.”

Many within KDP feel that the battle will have to be fought
in order to get Baghdad to the negotiation table. This view is clearly expressed
in this tweet from a Kurd calling himself 4K: “Baghdad don't want peace, we can
see this through its aggression and demands, only force can stop Baghdad it's
aggression and sit to listen”.

At the other side of the Kurdish spectrum, deceased PUK
leader Jalal Talabani had declared in the past that he could not keep his
people “from dreaming about their own Kurdish state, but that secession from
Iraq is not realistic.” This view is shared by his sons, who call for Kurdish
unity in order to get the best deal possible to stay within the Iraqi
federation.

As deputy Prime Minister, Talabani’s younger son Qubad is,
interestingly enough, working closely with Massoud’s nephew and Prime Minister,
Nechirvan Barzani. The latter stayed out of the limelight during the referendum
campaign, but has now resurfaced as a strong supporter of unity. He is the main
candidate for taking over part of his uncle’s job after he steps down.

Calls for Barzani’s resignation have come from all sides of
the divide, although more loudly from his opponents. “That went well, Mr
Barzani. You lost everything the Kurdish people have fought for over so many
years, and for what? Time to resign & step down,” tweeted Kurdish
Solidarity‏ @Hevallo. The leader of KDP’s former
coalition partner, Gorran [Change], is openly calling on Barzani to resign. (which he has since done, JN)

A coalition of three opposition parties has come up with a
road map for addressing the crisis, which calls for the abolishment of the
office of president and the transfer of his authorities to government
institutions. It also promotes the formation of a provisional government to negotiate
with Baghdad and prepare for new parliamentary elections to be held in
Kurdistan, leading to a new parliament and the formation of a new government.

Barzani’s decision not to give in to pressure to delay the
referendum is seen by many as a grave mistake that led to the Kurds losing most
of what they had achieved since the fall of dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003.
The deal offered by American Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, which was leaked,
has even convinced members of the KDP, showing as it does that had Barzani
delayed, the Americans and the United Nations would have worked with the Kurds
and Baghdad to solve the points of conflict between the two. If after two years
that did not work out, the deal stipulated, the option of holding the independence
referendum would be on the table.

Prominent PUK politician Mahmoud Othman, while supporting
the proposal, warned that Abadi’s demand to nullify the results of the referendum
could not be met. “(The) proposal
could create a platform for dialogue. Request to cancel referendum results not
feasible, all sides should be flexible”, he tweeted.

Cancelling the referendum outcome completely is not popular,
even among those who were not in favor of holding it, like the poet and
lecturer, Choman Hardi, who wrote on Facebook: “Many tried to warn the KRG that
the referendum was ill-timed, that internally and externally the preconditions
for statehood were not met. But the referendum went ahead anyway, raising high
hopes only to rapidly smash them when the federal government forcibly seized
many Kurdish-controlled territories. And after all of that to freeze the vote?
Even though I did not vote, I feel grieved by this news.”

Even so, many will not budge in their support for their
president, and keep on blaming others for the crisis. Like Kurdish activist Nergiz‏on Twitter: “There
are no regrets in having voted yes in the referendum. Given the chance, would
vote yes again. Thank you President @masoud barzani”. And even stronger, Mêrdîn
Dilêmine‏,
who lives in Toronto and defends Barzani blindly for having put Kurdistan on
the international map: “He is not loser, he was brave& let the world
know d will of people of Kurdistan. In that sense he is a true winner in the
hearts and minds”.

Friday, December 1, 2017

While the "Islamic State" (IS) has lost most of its cities in Iraq and Syria, thousands of Yazidis it kidnapped are still missing. Activists say some are being hidden within IS families. Judit Neurink reports from Irbil.

Almost half of the over 6,000 Yazidis kidnapped three years ago by the IS group have still not been found. Yet many of them are hidden in plain sight, aid workers and Yazidi activists say, living with Arab families who have sought refuge in Internally Displaced Person (IDP) camps.
Forced to convert to Islam, they now fear for their lives if they are found, aid worker and Yazidi activist Mirza Dinaye says. He is calling for an active search and for the Yazidis to be returned to their families.

They are victims of the IS policy to eradicate the Yazidi faith, he says. "We know they are completely assimilated into the Muslim community. They think the Yazidi faith has been eradicated, and often suffer from Stockholm syndrome," — a special, often intimate relationship between victims and kidnappers.

That was the case for Mediha Ibrahim, 13, a Yazidi girl kidnapped by IS in August 2014, who spent the next three years living with the families of Turkish IS fighters in their stronghold of Talafar. During that time, they turned her into a Muslim.Read on here

Iraqi Kurds grieve the loss of lands they have had to return to Iraq's control and their shattered dream of independence. As they see it, it isn't their politicians who are to blame, but the international community.

"Why did our peshmerga die in the fight against Daesh?" asks Hawre Ali, who stands by while protesters pose for pictures with yellow sad-faced smileys. Outside the United Nations compound in Iraqi Kurdistan's capital Irbil, peace protesters gather. They mourn for the territories the Iraqi army has taken back from the Kurds over the last few days, some of which peshmerga fighters had recaptured from the "Islamic State" terror group, or Daesh, with the loss of Kurdish lives.

"What did we fight for?" Ali wonders. For three years, the peshmerga fought IS — mainly in the so-called "disputed" territories that both the Kurds and Baghdad claim for themselves — with air support from the US-led international coalition against IS. They lost almost 2,000 peshmerga troops in battle, with another 18,000 wounded.Read on here

Stay for the best result

Iraq gets under your skin. It is a country that is constantly changing. A place with a shortage of energy and water, but plenty of hospitality. Because of the many trauma's and scars, every step forward can be considered a victory. That is why it creeps under your skin - and you will stay, for the best result.

About me

I am a Dutch journalist working in Iraqi Kurdistan since 2008, a correspondent for Dutch and Belgian media (amongst others) and an author of 6 books, of which two have been translated into Kurdish. I set up the Independent Media Centre in Kurdistan which I lead till the end of 2012.